The Buccaneers couldn’t have asked for a better transition behind center.

Tampa Bay enjoyed three great seasons with Tom Brady, who led the franchise to its second Super Bowl victory in his first season away from the New England Patriots. Brady retired for good after the 2022 season, and the Bucs turned to Baker Mayfield, ushering in a new era for the organization.

The low-risk move brought a very high reward: Mayfield was named to the 2023 Pro Bowl and led Tampa Bay to its third consecutive NFC South title and a win in the wild-card round of the playoffs. The 2018 first-round pick was rewarded with a three-year contract worth up to $100 million and he already makes the Bucs look like a contender for Super Bowl LIX.

Mayfield spoke about his successor as Brady on the latest episode of the Casa De Klub podcast and discussed the burnout Tampa players suffered toward the end of TB12’s tenure.

“With Tom, the building was a little different,” Mayfield said, according to a transcription by JoeBucsFan. “Obviously, Tom is different in terms of playing. He had everyone under pressure, it was a tense atmosphere, so I think everyone was pretty stressed.”

“Everyone expected the Bucs not to be good last year. They wanted me to come in, be myself, bring some joy back to football for the guys who weren’t having as much fun and just keep raising the level of competition. They just asked me to be myself. As a player, you really can’t ask for much more.”

There’s more than one way to succeed in the NFL. Brady himself learned that while thriving in Tampa Bay after spending two decades in a very defined structure with the Patriots. So the future Hall of Famer may not take offense to Mayfield’s comments.

Still, it will be interesting to see how Brady evaluates the Bucs when/if he comments on their games for FOX this season.